SYRACUSE, NY -- The 500 Building at 500 S. Salina St., formerly known as the Chimes Building, has fallen victim to foreclosure.

The 12-story landmark at the southern edge of downtown Syracuse is scheduled to be auctioned at a foreclosure sale Dec. 4 at the Onondaga County Courthouse.

Wells Fargo Bank, the mortgage holder, obtained a $4.2 million judgment last week in state Supreme Court. The bank sued last February after building owner Syracuse Portfolio LLC, of Long Island, defaulted on its mortgage payment.

Despite the financial problems, some tenants say they love the building and expect it to attract new tenants after the foreclosure process ends.

Li-Hua Lan / The Post-StandardThe 12-story building at 500 S. Salina St., Syracuse, formerly known as the Chimes Building, will be auctioned off Dec. 4.

"The building has a lot to offer," said Deborah Rhea, chief operating and financial officer of Ashley McGraw Architects, which occupies the entire 11th floor. "I just think it's suffering from the fact that there aren't enough tenants in Upstate New York to populate these old buildings."

The leases of current tenants will be honored regardless of what happens at the foreclosure sale, said William Colucci, of Pyramid Brokerage, the court-appointed receiver for the building.

"The foreclosure sale does not affect the tenants," he said.

The building is about 45 percent vacant, Colucci said, but he expects it to attract new tenants once the stigma of the foreclosure passes.

Syracuse Portfolio LLC, led by managing member Ehsanollah Bokhour, of Garden City, bought the building in 2006 from Coolidge Properties, of White Plains. The sale price was $4.9 million, according to county deed records.

The building opened in 1929. For decades, it was called the Chimes Building because of its electronic chimes, which rang every 15 minutes.

The chimes went out of commission shortly after World War II. During the 1970s, long after the apparatus was deemed irreparable, the building's name was changed.

Real estate tax payments on the building are up to date, but the building has an overdue water bill of $5,224, city officials said.